What Is the Mame Bonsai?

The ideal mame bonsai is no more than 4 inches tall.

Over the thousands of years since Chinese plant lovers first introduced the art of bonsai, different styles and sizes developed, from single trunk styles, with upright, weeping or root-over rock forms, to styles with multiple trunks, to styles with multiple trees. Bonsai enthusiasts also classify each of the styles according to size, with bonsai ranging from 1 inch high, called thimble bonsai, to mame, or miniature bonsai, to very large bonsai, called imperial, more than 5 feet tall.

Size

No acknowledged authority exists when it comes to classifying bonsai sizes. The sizes were first designated by how many men it took to lift a particular tree and then became associated with specific measurements. Mame bonsai is listed as between 2 and 6 inches tall according to some authorities and between 5 to 8 inches tall according to others.

Trees and Shrubs

While any tree can be trained to a mame, some make the process easier than others. Mugo pine (Pinus mugo) makes a classic mame for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 1 through 10b. But because it has very small leaves and is very hardy, dwarf boxwood (Buxus sempervirens “Suffruiticosa”) works well for novices in USDA plant hardiness zones 6a through 10a. Even hardier and smaller is Korean boxwood (Buxus sinica insularis), which grows in USDA plant hardiness zones 5b through 10a.

Care

All bonsai require more care than full-size plants because they are less able to get enough water and nutrients from nature. But with smaller pots, mames need even more watering and fertilizing than larger bonsai. In fact, most mame require almost daily care to ensure that the trees thrive. The re-potting, root pruning and branch pruning that all bonsai require to stay small is even more essential in maintaining a mame.

Mame Aesthetics

In the art of bonsai, growers are not simply trying to grow a miniature tree, but striving to create the illusion of the tree itself in nature and to affect the viewer's emotions with a vision that is beyond words. Because mame provides fewer details to use in creating the illusion, such as fewer leaves, fewer branches and shorter trunks, the difficulty in creating the illusion increases -- the entire process of creating an ideal tree becomes more abstract and intensified.

About the Author

Susan Lundman began writing about her passions of cooking, gardening, entertaining and recreation after working for a nonprofit agency, writing grants and researching child development issues. She has written professionally for six years since then. Lundman received her M.A. from Stanford University.